A DAY IN THE CITY...AN OBSERVATION
A day in the city where I opened up all my senses to its vitality.
Bitumen pavements, roads and tram lines crawl with impatient traffic,parked cars abandoned by hidden office workers parked for miles, pubs and fast food joints market their stale stench, terrace homes tucked neatly amongst the high rise buildings, construction cranes pierce the sky. Concrete walls, brick walls, human walls, graffiti painted in hurriedness, road signs, billboards. The hustle and bustle of all that moves, rattling trams, police sirens,ambulance and fire trucks screaming their urgency, the women, the men…..a sea of strange faces coming and going. A bookshop, a clothing wharehouse, a petrol station, and I’m feeling hungry. The city smells tickle my nostrils. The brewery, the hospital, the university, an egg and bacon roll. Briefcases accompany stoney faces, umberellas for the unexpected, a man runs by me, a couple walk arm in arm speaking a foreign language, and I’m starting to feel like a stranger. The screech of brakes, horns tooting for attention, a motorcycle passes by, intimidating parking meters stand guard, buses and diesel fumes burn the air of its freshness, taxies ferry their passengers to their destinations, newspaper under my arm, empty food bag clenched in my fist, no rubbish bins, and it’s an overcast day. The overall din of the city hums about me like an annoying fly only to be punctured by sounds that rise above this madness. A sea-gull squarking to be fed, a dog barking at passers-by, birds singing their daily songs in the few trees left, the wind howling between buildings like an imprisoned child, all trying to outdo each other but eventually getting swallowed up by the city’s chaos. Traffic lights frantically try to put order to this mayhem, idicators blink indecisively, brake lights flash their uncertainty, and everything fills me with a forthcoming doom…..and yet there’s an inexplicable excitement that rises. The excitement of discovery and adventure. A strange contradiction overwhelms my senses….disgust, yet a sense of humanity….loneliness, yet a sense of comradeship….fear and yet courage….and I wonder how much more I can touch before my emotions burst from the dam only to be lost in this city some call home.
Kristin Reynolds
Ahhh, the city! what would we do without their busy and grime? I wrote a simila poem about NYC, and the love and hate of it. madness…how could one live without it? I thrive on chaos.
beautiful, descriptive piece.
cosimopiro replied
Thanks Kristin. It certainly is a hub and melting pot. I live in the hills with surrounding bush with majestic trees in the forest not far. A day in the city for me is an outing with humanity….
Matt Penfold
Wow Cos, you’ve certainly captured the hustle and bustle and the essence of a buzzing metropolis, I could feel it and smell it, very descriptive and evocative indeed :-)
cosimopiro replied
Thanks Matt. Amazing environment the cities…one can walk around still in one’s own world with all that commotion or open up all the sense to see its real nature. Just fascinates me. Glad you enjoyed the outing with me.
linaji
raffic lights frantically try to put order to this mayhem, idicators blink indecisively, brake lights flash their uncertainty, and everything fills me with a forthcoming doom…..and yet there’s an inexplicable excitement that rises. The excitement of discovery and adventure. A strange contradiction overwhelms my senses….disgust, yet a sense of humanity….loneliness, yet a sense of comradeship….fear and yet courage
This happens to me in life.. no matter where I am.. your words seems so familiar to my path.. the sign posts you create … the rest stop here.
cosimopiro replied
Yes, duality has a way about it. To transcend it and maintain that state of equilibrium…..now that would be something else…..but alas we are but human. That’s what makes this journey interesting and exciting. Live and cherish every moment
cosimopiro replied
Thankyou very much Linaji…..apologies for the after thought…...I’m proned to allow my thoughts to cart me off sometimes. Good cheers.